The Center for Public Policy and Administration (CPPA) will kick off its Fall 2010 Faculty Colloquium on Monday, September 20, with a talk by Professor of Communication Jarice Hanson. The presentation will take place from 12-1 p.m. in Thompson 620. CPPA’s Colloquia are held monthly each semester and enable members of the UMass community to discuss ongoing research projects that have significant policy implications.
Hanson’s presentation, “The Digitally Divided: The New Minority and Willful Retreat from the Information Society,” is co-sponsored by the National Center for Digital Government (NCDG), a CPPA affiliate.
Hanson’s talk will investigate the growing movement of people who have withdrawn from Internet and cell phone use and their reasons for opting out of the “information society.” Her research draws from interviews with the “unconnected” and examines reasons for their choices along three dimensions related to economic principles, social choices, and perceptions of happiness.
Professor Hanson is the author, co-author, editor or co-editor of 21 books, including 24/7: How Cell Phones and the Internet Change the Way We Live, Work and Play (2007). Along with her UMass position, Hanson holds the Verizon Chair in Telecommunications at Temple University and is also a CPPA faculty associate. In addition to her research on cell phone and Internet usage, she is conducting research on the social and behavioral aspects of the emerging field of nanotechnology and the impact of media coverage of the war in Iraq on the rhetorical dimensions of democratic practice. Hanson received an Outstanding Teaching Award from the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences in 2008-2009. She has been at UMass Amherst since 1985 and holds a doctorate from Northwestern University.
Three additional speakers will participate in CPPA’s Faculty Colloquium this fall: Kathryn McDermott, associate professor of education and public policy (October 4,); Jeffrey Thompson, assistant research professor at the Political Economy Research Institute (PERI) (November 1); and Amy Schalet, assistant professor of sociology (December 7).
All talks in the CPPA Faculty Colloquium are free and open to the public. Brownbag lunches are welcome. For additional information, go to www.masspolicy.org or contact Kathy Colón (kcolon@pubpol.umass.edu).